Wasteful Society

Day 52: I have often said to people who inquire as to why I don't sell my needlearts or write a book or hold classes that I do not have a capitalist bone in my body. In fact, I deplore the greed which has brought us to the sorry pass we currently find ourselves in, and I despise "planned obsolescence" as a ploy to get people to spend more money. Case in point: it used to be that when the plastic covers on the ear-pieces of a pair of glasses cracked, you could go down to your local optician and within minutes, they'd have shrink-fitted new ones, easy as replacing a missing screw. On occasion when I went back to the place I'd purchased the glasses, they even did so without charge. Now, when I find myself wanting to re-use these frames, I have contacted over half a dozen places including the manufacturer in the hopes of having them repaired. "Nope, sorry. We don't do that." "We don't carry that model any more." I suppose I could wrap adhesive tape around the split so that it wouldn't bloody my ear. I mean, at my age, what does it matter how I look? But that's not the point. This should be an easy fix. Instead, I am going to have to select and buy new frames, a victim of our money-hungry, throw-it-away-and-get-a-new-one system.